The Phantom of the Opera (2005)

On August 1, 1992, my mother and grandmother took me up to Calgary to see “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Jubilee Auditorium. It, along with the animated Disney films of the time, made me a fan of Broadway style songs. As a kid, I was impressed with what they could do on a stage. There was fire effects and fast scene changes. Also, the story, acting and music were so well done. Then a little over 10 years later, I saw the movie poster for Joel Schumacher‘s film adaptation. I was excited because during those 10 years every once in a while, I would listen to the Original London Version that I had on tape. Upon seeing the film, I liked almost all the choices in the casting and how the songs were handled. Being a huge Phantom fan however, I felt that the Phantom himself was poorly handled, as were a few moments in the film. Positively speaking, I was impressed by much of it. I could tell that it was a Schumacher film because of the camera tilts, colors and use of statues. I like his "Batman Forever" and I feel he worked well with Andrew Lloyd Webber in adapting the play for the big screen. I am going to focus my criticism not on the story and characters but rather on the adaptations and portrayal of Webber’s play.

I would first like to be negative and so as to end on a good note with this review. I have a book all about the Broadway play and so I am very familiar with how the Phantom looks from that version. Because I own the original London Cast performance soundtrack, I am a huge fan of Michael Crawford’s performance. Other Broadway actors playing the Phantom have also sounded just fine. I know that they were trying to get a rock-and-roll type voice for this film but Gerard Butler's singing performance in this case is below the bar set for this role by Crawford. The role of the Phantom has had so many other wonderful performers don his mask in the Webber version and Butler unfortunately did not measure up to them either. If the Phantom is supposed to be a “great teacher”, he has to be the best singer out of all the cast. I was satisfied and impressed with the musical talent in this film until the Phantom began to sing “Angel of Music”. Butler is too young also. I feel like the Phantom needs to be in his mid or late 40’s, not late 30’s. The filmmakers also failed visually to give us the Phantom we have come to enjoy from the play. In the Schumacher film, the Phantom did not have a hat, his mask was shaped a little differently and his face under the mask was not as ugly as I hoped. It was not a good payoff because in my opinion, the film version of the Phantom looks as though the guy was hit on the side of the head with a baseball bat. In past film adaptations of the novel, the Phantom’s face has been frightful and it is a large part of the story. Before, it has looked like a skull or been quite bloody. Michael Crawford’s face was ugly, scarred and deformed. The Phantom’s lack of real hair in the Webber play was another key element to create repulsiveness. Also in the play when the mask is first taken off in the first act, you cannot see the ugly side because of stage direction. In the Schumacher film when the mask is first removed, you can tell that the Phantom’s face is not all that ugly despite his attempt to hide it. Covering it with his hand does not hide everything and on film, it would have been very easy to hide the ugly face of the Phantom. One thing that really bothered me was that the Phantom’s makeup when fully revealed for the first time was different than what we see a few moments later in the lair. Only four years after this film's release, Warner Brothers was able to use digital makeup to create a horrifying Harvey Dent and that makes the makeup for Butler all the more disappointing.

There were also scenes and relationships in the film that were handled poorly. One major thing I noticed is that Phantom was more mysterious and magical ironically in real life on stage than in this film version. I also felt there was little romantic conflict between the Phantom and Raoul when compared to the stage version. There was nothing wrong with Patrick Wilson as Raoul and I loved his work on this movie. The Phantom was just not romantic or mysterious enough. His age and voice did not help either, as Wilson is much better singer than Butler. The Phantom's appearance at the masquerade in this film was well done but the costume could have been a little more extravagant like it was in the play. The skull mask in the play made it impossible to see his mouth and this made him scary and intimidating. Also, his entrance on the live stage was dramatic in that he seems to appear all of a sudden from in the midst of the crowd. Finally, his exit on the Broadway play was even more impressive because there is no indication of a trap door. The film made him feel like just a man with unimpressive magic tricks where as for some reason; the Broadway Phantom was like a ghost/true magician. The cemetery would have been better if the audience did not know how the Phantom got there. Despite the expert choreography, the sword fight as a replacement of the fireballs was a poor choice for the film because the fireballs on stage not only showed the Phantom’s magical persona but also showed his manipulative nature. We already know the power of his voice but the scene between Raoul and the Phantom with the fireballs shows that he can influence anyone. On stage, the Don Juan scene was experienced in the following way. Only the audience knows that the Phantom has taken Piangi’s place. Don Juan’s costume as a large grey cloak hides his identity fully and Christine, as usual, is mesmerized by the Phantom’s voice until the end of the song. That is when she and the other characters realize what has happened. In the film, this drama did not happen. It is so obvious that the Phantom is not Piangi because Don Juan’s costume does not disguise anything. Christine immediately knows that it is the Phantom and half way through the song, so do other characters. The drama of the scene on film is nothing compared to the original stage version. The Phantom’s exit from the play is once again magical and mysterious where as on film it is logical and therefore not as enjoyable. Lastly, the scene where Raoul is trying to reverse the lowering cage ceiling is unnecessary. The use of slow motion and reverse made the scene so phony because of the bubbles going backwards. Also, the cage at one moment appears to be below the water and then in the next shot, it appears to be above the water. Schumacher made a similar post-production blunder in "Batman and Robin".

Despite the negative criticism I have given, I still like this movie. Some things the filmmakers did were bang on in adapting the play. In some versions of the play I have heard, the auctioneer is very loud when he says the word “Gentlemen”. In the original London version, his final line is loud but when he says “Gentlemen”, it is not as loud as the rest of the line so as to contrast the powerful, loud musical theme of the Phantom. The film went even further and made the auctioneer almost whisper. I loved that. Christine is to be a better singer than Carlotta and that was well achieved in this film. When Emma Rossum first begins to sing “Think of Me”, my reaction was a combination of relief and amazement. All the supporting cast members did very well, more particularly Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver and Jennifer Ellison. They all were the right actors for these characters. I recognized Simon Calllow from "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls". Seeing as how this was a film, I would have loved to see this movie take place in the actual Paris Opera house or at least in a location that felt more realistically like the Paris of that time period. It felt slightly more stylized than I would have liked. “Learn to be Lonely” was worthy of its Oscar nomination and Minnie Driver did just fine in singing that.

Every few months, I will listen to the London version and come away feeling wonderful. This film made it possible for me to relive visually my experience back in 1992. It wasn’t perfect but it was good enough. The music and supporting cast members save this film. The filmmakers made multiple mistakes with the Phantom but succeeded in other aforementioned ways. As a Phantom fan, I hope that many years from now that someone will remake this movie so as to create a perfect adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece. For the moment, this film will do.

4 Stars out of 5